Serve hot or cool. It makes about 3 dozen rolls
• 1 package (1 Tbs.) dry yeast
• ¼ cup warm water
• 1¼ cups warm milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 4 cups unbleached white flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup butter, melted
• 1 tsp. salt
• melted butter for brushing rolls
1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and combine it in a large, warm bowl with the milk, egg, and a scant 2 cups of flour. Beat by hand or with an electric mixer until all the lumps of flour are gone and the mixture is perfectly smooth. Add the sugar, melted butter, and salt, and beat with a mixer again until smooth and glossy.
2. Stir in another cup of flour. The dough should now be stiff enough to hold together. Sprinkle half the remaining flour onto a large board, turn the dough out onto it, and sprinkle the rest of the flour over the dough. Gently begin kneading the dough, keeping it coated with flour at all times to prevent sticking. Knead in as much of the flour as is needed to make a dough that is manageable but still soft.
3. When it is smooth and elastic, form the dough into a ball and put it in a warm, buttered bowl, turning it over once so that it is coated with butter on all sides. Cover the bowl with a towel and leave the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 1 hour, or until it has doubled in volume.
4. Punch the dough down, place it on a lightly floured board, and roll it out into a rectangle about 18 inches by 9 inches. Cut the rectangle in half lengthwise, and then cut each half into 1-inch-wide strips, crosswise. To form a roll, pick up one of the strips, stretch it out slightly, twist it around a few turns, then tie it in one loose knot and a second one next to it. Put the roll down on a buttered baking sheet, tucking the ends underneath.
5. These rolls will have an uneven oval shape. Of course, the rolls can be shaped any way that you prefer, and they’ll be just as tasty—this is just my way of forming rolls, preferred because it is so fast and simple.
6. When all the dough is shaped into rolls and arranged several inches apart on buttered baking sheets, cover the rolls with light towels and leave them in a warm place to rise for about 25 minutes, or until nearly doubled in size. Brush the rolls lightly with melted butter and bake them in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, just until they begin to turn golden brown. Don’t let them get too dark!
